USA to Become the Land of “Fastest Rail Travel”
Cars and airplanes have traditionally been prioritized in US transportation policy, while trains have often been slow and unreliable. The Biden administration aims to change that. The first high-speed rail line will connect Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
The USA is set to have the “fastest, safest, and greenest rail transportation in the world,” according to US President Joe Biden. The first high-speed rail line in the country will connect Las Vegas to Los Angeles starting from 2028. “We are building the first high-speed rail line in the history of our country. And it starts here,” Biden said during a visit to Las Vegas.
The high-speed trains operated by Brightline West will cover the 350-kilometer journey between the gambling city of Las Vegas in Nevada and the Greater Los Angeles area in California in just two hours and ten minutes – approximately twice as fast as cars. The line will be operated by the private rail company Brightline, which already offers a new rail connection between Miami and Orlando on the East Coast of Florida.
Completion targeted before the Olympics
The rail-loving Biden administration plans to provide up to $3 billion (€2.8 billion) in funding for the Brightline West project. The line is expected to be completed by 2028, just in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
An estimated eleven million passengers are expected to use the line each year. Biden stated that with the high-speed trains, three million vehicles would be taken off the congested highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, also reducing approximately 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Total of $8.2 billion allocated
An additional $3 billion will be invested in the Central Valley project between Bakersfield and Merced, aimed at better connecting Northern California to the Bay Area around San Francisco and the southern metropolis of Los Angeles. Trains traveling at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour will operate in the 275-kilometer corridor. The electric trains will be powered by renewable energy sources, making them emission-free.
Further rail projects are planned in the eastern United States, including in North Carolina and Virginia. Overall, Biden has announced funding of $8.2 billion for ten key rail projects across the country. The funds come from an infrastructure package approved by Congress in 2021.
Currently, passenger trains in the US are often slow and irregular, with cars and airplanes given priority over the decades. In the fight against climate change, the US government aims to change this and double the number of passengers by 2040.